During surgeries in the shoulder area the patient is usually supported lying on the back on the operating table. For supporting the head a head support is attached to the operating table by means of which a secure fixing of the head during the surgery shall take place to guarantee thus a secure performance of the surgery being as low risk as possible for the patient.
From Document US 2002 0169460 A1 a head support is known comprising two holding elements, each laterally surrounding the patient's head which are coupled to each other in a coupling area. To this end, an arcuate oblong hole is provided in one of the two holding elements, in which a pin connected to the other holding element is guided. Thus it is achieved that when opening or closing one of the holding elements, the other holding element is also rotated along and is thus also opened or closed. One problematic aspect of this coupling is that the coupling via the oblong hole and the pin is relatively unstable and can easily get caught and a synchronous opening and closing is not ensured. Another problematic aspect is that the patient's back of the head, which is arranged in the area of the coupling, can easily get caught which may cause injuries.
Further head supports are known from Documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,186 A, U.S. Pat. No. 2,535,559 A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,572 A, WO 0066059 A3, U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,748 A, WO 0149223 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 7,263,733 B2, US 20110035882 A1 and EP 1219276 B1.